Run the Parkway Half Marathon: Cheryl Taylor Dominates F60-64

• Cheryl Taylor wins in 1:45:19 (8:02/mi), finishing 8th among all women and posting the 7th-fastest women's split on the second half.
• 40-minute gap separates Taylor from runner-up Andrea Ajayi (2:25:27), the widest margin between any two adjacent finishers in the F60-64 group.
• Anthea Damore climbs from 78th to 65th among women across the race, one of the stronger second-half moves in the group.
• Barbara Hecker fades hard: after sitting 41st among women early, she slipped to 95th by the finish — the sharpest position drop in the F60-64 field.

Cheryl Taylor made this one look straightforward. The 60-year-old Sacramento native crossed in 1:45:19 at an 8:02/mi clip, a pace that left the rest of the F60-64 field well behind from the outset. She also backed it up late — her 7th-fastest women's split on the second half shows she wasn't coasting to the line. By the finish she had climbed to 8th among all women, a strong position in what was a competitive women's field on a warm November morning in Folsom.

Behind Taylor, the real racing happened across a 40-minute window. Andrea Ajayi of El Dorado Hills came in second at 2:25:27 (11:06/mi), while Anthea Damore told one of the better stories in the group — she entered the Mile 4–Mile 10 stretch sitting 78th among women and clawed her way to 65th by the finish, posting the 64th-fastest women's split on the second half. That kind of sustained push earned her third in 2:34:34. Jaimina Schulz rounded out the top four in 2:38:23, finishing 72nd among women.

Barbara Hecker's race went the other direction. She was 41st among women through the early miles — a genuinely strong position — but faded to 95th by the finish, ending in 2:53:18. Patti Ryland finished sixth in 3:10:48, and Rose Cardoso completed all 13.1 miles in 3:46:13 to close out the seven-woman F60-64 group. Every finisher on the board on a 74-degree day is worth noting.